Sunday, July 18, 2010

Feline Fatale-Linda O. Johnston

Kendra Ballantyne works as an attorney for a small laid-back law firm dealing mostly with the elderly and those who have pet problems. She is dating wealthy Dante, owner of the Hot Pets supply chain. Currently she is pet-sitting at the Brigadoon Complex so her friends Wanda and Darryl can go on vacation.

Kendra gets into a fracas with Margaret Shafter who doesn’t like strangers on her complex and opposes pets inside as that brings in outside riffraff. Teddy and Ruth Bertinetti support Margaret. Wanda returns Kendra’s call and informs the lawyer that Brigadoon is divided over the pet issue with several making nasty dangerous threats. The next time Wanda contacts Kendra is when she is a murder suspect. One of the cats, Lady Cuddles, escaped entering Margaret’s apartment. Wanda followed the frisky feline inside the apartment where Margaret was apparently murdered. Kendra promises to find the killer, but instead realizes a horde of people had viable motives. Kendra turns to a risky extraordinary method to flush out the culprit.

Once again Linda O. Johnston has written a creative crazy complex and charmingly delightful cozy as Feline fatale is one of the better amateur sleuths in the Pet-Sitter mystery series (see Howl Deadly). Kendra is a caring courageous person who goes the extra kilometer for her friends and loves Dante despite his excesses. Fans of the saga will appreciate the heroine as she tries to identify the murderer to insure Wanda is no longer a suspect.